The story of the Dallison Family

THE DALLISON FAMILY were the last owners of 71 Gladstone Road, the original 1930s home which has now been redeveloped as Broadstairs
Apartments.

The Dallison's relocated from Yorkshire to Kent in 1947 and rented the top two floors of the house from October 1959. In 1965, they had the opportunity to buy the whole house. They managed to
negotiate a sale price of £4,000!

Joseph (Joe) and Maisie Dallison were both born in the late 1890s, married in 1925 and had two boys, Robert (Bob) born in 1926 and Peter in 1933.

Joe had an accident at the colliery where he worked as a teenager, which ultimately led to the amputation of his left leg at the age of 21. He was very nimble on his crutches and could go up and
down stairs as fast as anyone! He enjoyed a full life until his death in 1973.

Maisie ran a china shop in Market Street, Margate. She also bred champion white Persian Cats in the 1950s and 60s. One kitten was sold to King Feisal of Iraq! Maisie loved the gardens of No. 71
and kept them looking beautiful and full of colour in the summer.

Bob served in the Army during World War 2 and afterwards worked as a clerk in Canterbury. Bob loved films, so the house became filled with all forms of related media and literature.

Peter joined the RAF on leaving school and served 5 years as a radar technician before deciding to leave the service and become a geography teacher. While training in London, he joined the St.
Paul’s Cathedral Choir as a tenor. Peter taught at Charles Dickens Secondary Modern School in Broadstairs for 27 years from 1958 and became a well-respected Head of Geography. Peter enjoyed
‘treading the boards’ especially Gilbert & Sullivan. He was an actor and Business Manager for Ramsgate Amateur Operatic Society.

Neither Bob nor Peter married. They read extensively and the house became a library for their books. Both retired early when their mother became terminally ill in 1985 and shared their Mum’s care
until she died later that year.

Bob then fell ill in the 1990s and spent his last years in a local nursing home until his death in 2012. Peter visited him every day possible and chose to remain living at No.71, the family home.
Peter lived mainly in just two rooms of the large house until his death in 2016.

The Dallison family are now reunited in St. Peter’s Churchyard, in Broadstairs - a short walk from Gladstone Road.